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The Cortical Maps of Hierarchical Linguistic Structures during Speech Perception
Jingwei Sheng1,2,3, Li Zheng2,3,4, Bingjiang Lyu5
1Beijing City Key Lab for Medical Physics and Engineering, Institution of Heavy Ion Physics, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, China.
Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)
|August 24, 2018
Summary
The human brain processes language hierarchically across different brain regions. This study maps neural activity to specific linguistic levels like words, phrases, and sentences in the cerebral cortex.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
- Linguistics
Background:
- Language processing in the brain is hierarchical, involving parsing connected speech and constructing abstract linguistic structures.
- Previous research identified neural processing timescales for grammar-based linguistic hierarchies, but the specific cortical locations remain unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify and map distinct cortical regions involved in processing different linguistic levels (words, phrases, sentences).
- To understand the neuroanatomical basis of multi-timescale hierarchical speech processing in the human brain.
Main Methods:
- Utilized novel magnetoencephalography (MEG) source imaging techniques.
- Employed a unique language stimulation paradigm to synchronize neural activity with linguistic units.
- Segregated cortical maps corresponding to words, phrases, and sentences.
Main Results:
- Distinct cortical loci were identified for processing different linguistic levels.
- The superior temporal gyrus processes all three linguistic levels (words, phrases, sentences).
- Specific regions like the right motor cortex (words), left anterior temporal lobe, and left inferior frontal gyrus (phrases/sentences) were selectively recruited.
Conclusions:
- The study provides neuroanatomical evidence for multi-timescale hierarchical speech processing.
- Specific sets of cortical regions are responsible for encoding different levels of linguistic units.
- This research grounds the understanding of speech hierarchy in the brain's anatomical reality.
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